


Hope for the Rabbit-Hearted.

by xSugaritos



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, angst with happy ending, character study i guess??, i forgot to edit it earlier sorry, jesslake - Freeform, lake is nonbinary, this is messy im sorry, where's the tag for lake pLS WHERE, you can read this as romantic or platonic jesslake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:47:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25322620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSugaritos/pseuds/xSugaritos
Summary: “Hey! Come back! That didn’t explain anything!” Jesse shouted at the screen as he gripped it tightly.He stared at his hand in confusion."...I didn't realize he was so scared," Lake said after a moment.---A character study on Jesse inspired by this scene
Relationships: Jesse Cosay/Lake, Jesse/Lake, Lake/Jesse, jesse & lake, lake & jesse
Comments: 8
Kudos: 66





	Hope for the Rabbit-Hearted.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by that one scene in the tape car where Lake realizes how scared Jesse was when he got onto the train bc i feel like no one talks about that scene??? Can we please talk about that scene????  
> Poor boy’s been through a lot okay ;;  
> Also i see Lake as nonbinary here, so I'll refer to them as they/them, hopefully there's no grammar mistakes!  
> Also thank you Jenz for the support! :D

He was always scared.  
Scared of angering others. Scared of hurting others.  
  
Scared _of_ being hurt.

It was easy for people to tease him and he’d always act like it didn’t actually get to him.

_‘Oh it was just a prank’_ he’d say.  
  
 _‘They didn’t actually mean what they said’_ he’d repeat to himself.

_‘I’m not dumb or weak’_ he’d say again and again.

_‘I’m not scared’_ he’d say in the mirror.

But it was getting harder and harder to believe.

  
\---

“Hey! Come back! That didn’t explain anything!”

He was scared. So scared.

He stared at his hand in confusion.

  
  
_31?_

He wished he knew what to do.

  
  
Someone usually told him what to do, how to act. 

But now he was completely alone. 

He was scared. So scared.

\---

He fidgeted with his hands as Alan Dracula went up the tree.

  
He wasn’t used to someone not liking him. Not that people weren’t be allowed to not like him! It was just. _Different._ **_New._ **

“So, what’s the plan?” He asked them, trying to look them in eye.

MT (or Lake) eyed him curiously and raised an eyebrow, “Why don’t you come up with one?” 

“Oh...I just, um...usually I’m not the one making the plans or ideas...usually, that’s Troy’s job! Or Devon’s...and sometimes Kevin’s but he’s kinda shy…” he trailed off MT looking at him incredulously.

“Well, you should make your own plan! People shouldn’t be the one bossing you around and making choices for you!” MT shouted, scaring Jesse a bit from her outburst.  
  
“...Sorry,” they said after a moment, recollecting herself.

“I just...I don’t feel like it’s fair how people treat you like a toy to be played with, you should be able to make your own choices! You’re your own person you know,” MT added.

“...I guess you're right,” Jesse replied, rubbing the back of this head sheepishly.

\---

“You’re making a big mistake son! You’re harboring a criminal reflection!” Sieve yelled on the other end of the door, banging and banging.

“Wait, are _you_ the criminal?” he asked, terrified at the thought.

“No!! I mean...that’s _complicated!_ ” they had yelled back, busy trying to unlock the door.

He looked at the wanted paper he had picked up and compared it to them. 

It _was_ them.

He was scared. He was scared again.

Could he really trust them? Who were they really?

_Who_ should he trust?

  
  
\---

“And who cares about them? Once my number goes down to zero, we’ll all be leaving anyways!” Jesse had exclaimed, MT looking quite a bit dumbfounded.

“What?” They said, surprised.

“ _What_ , what?” Jesse raised an eyebrow.

“I-I don’t, I mean, I-I didn’t think...you want us to come with you?”  
  
“You want _me_ to come with you?” MT added finally after a mess of stuttering.

“Yeah! You’re my friend! I’m not gonna leave you here with the Flecs chasing after you,” Jesse replied, and they smiled.  
  
A real genuine smile.

They had been scared for so long, they deserved to feel safe.  
  
To _be_ safe.

It was a promise he was going to keep.

\---

  
  
“I don’t know where we can hide!” MT exclaimed exasperatedly. 

“I got you, we’re getting out of here!” Jesse replied, not caring about the fear that once would’ve suffocated him.

“Huh...Jesse! Your number!” they gasped.

  
Jesse gasped as he looked at his hand as it went down to 0.

_0_

“We’re going home, we’re free!” Jesse exclaimed happily.  
  


They were going _home._

They were going to be _safe._

They didn’t have to be scared anymore.

They hurried off into the door after seeing the Flecs quickly catching up.

_“I’m going home,”_ was all Jesse could think about as he stepped right through. 

But MT…

  
  
“What?” they gasped as they realized that the door prevented them from leaving.

  
He was scared.

“Jesse!” 

He was so scared.

  
  
“No, no no no,”

_Scared of losing them._

His hand left their cold fingers.

_1_

\---

He had just gotten them back. He wasn’t going to lose them again. 

He broke his promise once and he was never going to break it again.

He blocked Sieve from trying to get to MT, hoping to try and stall for time.

But it didn’t work.

“Hey!” he exclaimed as Sieve forcefully grabbed his arm and launched him into the air, crashing into the screen behind him with enough force to crack the screen.

“Jesse!!” MT cried out in fear.

They were scared.

Scared of losing him.

\---

They were _finally_ free.  
  
Finally _safe_.

They both needed a moment to really comprehend that fact.

They were off the train.

But even with that fact, he’d toss and turn.

He was scared.

He’d cry out her name.

He was so scared.

He’d cry and cry out.

He was scared of…

He gasped.

“Jesse? What’s wrong?” Lake asked as they put their hands on his shoulders, shaking him slightly.

He just stayed there, still for a moment.

“...I was just scared….of losing you,” he finally said.

He hugged his knees to his chest and covered his eyes, trying to wipe off his tears.

Lake pulled him into a hug as best as they could.  
They wasn’t much of a touchy-feely person but darn, they’d try, they’d try her best for him.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, patting his soft brown hair.

“We’re _safe_ now, everything will be okay,” Lake soothed.

He relaxed a bit and hugged her back, trying to push away the nightmare from his thoughts.

They were safe.

He didn’t need to be scared anymore.


End file.
